Rhoades, the AD at Akron since 2006, emerged as the choice ahead of USC senior associate Brandon Martin. Rhoades, 43, was a finalist for the Rutgers AD job in February in a process handled by Parker Executive Search — the same firm that UH hired to recruit candidates.

Rhoades was introduced as the successor to Dave Maggard, who resigned April 22, during a press conference Thursday.

On Rhoades’ watch, Akron experienced unprecedented growth in the athletic department. On top of building a $55 million football stadium scheduled to open in the fall and securing naming rights, Rhoades presided over the addition of an indoor football practice facility and student center. He also set forth plans to improve the basketball arena.

Rhoades spent seven years at UTEP, rising to associate AD, before arriving at Akron in January 2006. He also has worked at Marquette and Yale athletic departments.

Original story:

The University of Houston narrowed its list of athletic director candidates to two on Wednesday, a member of the search committee said.

The committee member said Parker Executive Search, which has been orchestrating the process to replace Dave Maggard, brought in USC senior associate AD Brandon Martin and Akron AD Mack Rhoades on Wednesday for interview. The committee member described Martin, whose candidacy has been off the radar per the wishes of Parker Search, as “a superstar” and predicted he will be the last candidate standing.

“I can’t believe that anyone could come close to Brandon,” the committee member said. “I don’t know anyone else who could compete with him. The confidence that he has … it was a powerful interview.”

Rhoades also made a favorable impression with several interviewers, the committee member said. Martin played basketball at USC from 1993-1996, scoring 1,070 points, and has a doctorate. Another factor tipping the balance toward Martin, the committee member said, is his familiarity with working at a major school in a large metropolitan city.

“I heard from a lot of people, 'Akron?'” the committee member said. “`We don’t want to be like Akron. We want to be like USC.’”

If the UH makes a rapid decision, it would be an abrupt about-face from its expressed intentions. Two people intimately involved in the search said earlier in the day that UH president Renu Khator and search committee co-chairmen Ken Bailey and Carl Carlucci would try to narrow the field and then bring back two finalists to appear before the committee next week.

Like Martin, Wickstrom had been an off-the-radar candidate whose involvement in the search didn’t become known to the Chronicle until Wednesday. One UH insider said Wickstrom had the backing of some prominent UH alumni. Another person involved in the search indicated that the UH decision makers decided to move swiftly out of fear that some desirable candidates would drop out if their names came out in public.